The Ever After
[Age 727]
[Planet Kanassa]
The trouble with a beast is that it cannot truly be tamed.
Animals can be domesticated.
Beasts can be caged… but not tamed.
However, there is a difference between taming and directing.
Broly is wholly a product of misdirection, for to Paragus; a beast is merely a tool to be utilised, a utility in all but name.
Paragus had prepared the drones for more than just monitoring, they were prime tools for… well, misdirection as it just so happens.
"Magenta has revolted son! He hijacked the satellites and blocked the network! I can do nothing but control this single drone. The recording capabilities are jammed son! You need to get out by yourself."
The flurry of instructions had jammed together in Broly's head as he had listened with a blank face.
"You will have your revenge son! I promise, you only have to wait until the moon arrives."
"My tail is gone."
"…what?"
"My tail hasn't grown back since the attack… it's gone."
"…then you will wait. You will wait and you will listen to me."
"Can't you -"
"SHUT UP! You will not speak until you are spoken to!"
"Fathe-"
"I am Commander Paragus, and you will refer to me as such."
"Yes commander."
He remembered that conversation… and he remembered what he was made to endure.
He stood in place as the drone attracted a beast, the beast leapt onto Broly as aa beast does.
One of the beasts stood in place as the newly arrived one attempted to savage him. Not a single movement on the now taller beast as he accepted the shallow scars next to the deeper old ones… he was covered in scars.
He stood in place with his eyes shut, he knew better than to go through recovering an eye again. His daily dose of pain was far more than enough for him.
Finally, the drone felled the beast with a few shots, and began scanning the boy for injuries.
"Looks like this training won't have much effect anymore, I haven't had to heal you for a few months now… good, the time for your vengeance is near."
"Our."
"What?"
"Our vengeance Commander Paragus."
"Eat and be prepared to move out, the time for the dissolution of the Multi-Defence Force is near. You will attack as the second I give the order." Paragus barked without missing a beat, and just as soon the drone travelled upwards to recharge under the sun.
"I will do my best Commander Paragus… I want to detach his head so bad; I want to see his eyes as I do it." Declared Broly under his breath, not minding that the object of his wrath was merely a silhouette.
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[A few hours later]
[Planet Vegeta]
"How good to see you Bardock! It has been far too long old friend. I trust your mission was successful?"
"Cut the shit Paragus, of course it went well, all my missions do."
"Of course, how could I forget, speaking of forgetting; you have second child now. Congratulations."
Bardock ignored the backhanded compliment, his second child was a mid-level warrior. He had been ecstatic, so had Gine… but for a somewhat different reason.
"A mid-level warrior born to two low-level Saiyans, truly a boon! Not a complete boon though, but the second times the charm I suppose." Paragus continued with a massive grin gracing his face.
"How right you are Paragus, a boon indeed. Funny that, how one man's boon can seem like a curse in the hands of another, isn't it?" Bardock replied with an equally smug grin, although Paragus' expression had yet to change, Bardock knew that he had touched upon a weak spot.
"I am incredibly glad you bring up curses because I'd like to talk about yours! It seems that your older spawn requires some correction, and I'd like you to administer it."
Bardock's smile remained, although he was enraged in his mind. He hadn't ever met his eldest child, and despite Gine's pestering, he didn't intend to until the runt did something of note.
Bardock felt rage now that some insubordination on the boy's part would now result in him being accosted by an insufferable bureaucrat. There were many reasons to hate Paragus, and it didn't help that respect was in short supply when it came to a prideful Saiyan, meaning that the two hated each other on principle.
"So, what do you want me to do? Go and smack the boy around for not following orders? The fuck even happened? I doubt I'd follow orders from the murderer of Faro myself!" Although Bardock hadn't bothered to see the boy, he had taken Gine's concerns into consideration and looked over the details of his mission. He would be the last to admit it, but the idea of the boy dying a pointless death didn't seem ideal.
"Well, I'd agree with you there, without a Saiyan in charge, I would've been disappointed if there wasn't at least a little insubordination. However, the circumstances are slightly different this time."
"Different how?"
"Two of the four team members are dead."
"What?!"
Bardock screamed, Paragus had slowly gotten his attention, and now he decided to continue without letting that information sink in.
"Your curse's actions were of the fatal variety, so make sure that the correction is much the same."
"What?"
"Look Bardock, I won't pretend to understand the mind of low-level scum, but I'll try to make it clear: I want you to go to planet Kanassa and rid yourself of your mistake. Think of it as a chance to pretend you're me, I don't really care."
Bardock stared blankly at Paragus, still processing the information.
"Right, isn't this a joyous occasion. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do, so why don't you get the fuck out of my office?"
Paragus was happy to see the Dark Horse low-level warrior looking like that; every inch of smugness drained from his face. It was worth it, even if he had to tell aa little white lie to see it.
Thankfully, the lie wouldn't be a lie for much longer.
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[Sometime later]
[Planet Kanassa]
"So, you expect me to turn into a Great Ape without the full moon?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let me as this again, how am I meant to do that?"
"By doing it."
"Alright. How does a Saiyan turn into a Great Ape without the Blutz Waves from the moon?"
"The waves merely trigger the transformation; you can trigger the transformation yourself by channelling enough Ki to your tail."
"What must I do in order to control the form?"
"Keep a relaxed demeanour when transforming, feel the transformation, and keep in control of your consciousness. It is imperative that you master this transformation."
"You slipped a little that time, be honest, this whole schtick is to fuck with me, isn't it?"
"I'll never tell."
"Fine, but why can't I just use something like the Kaioken? With my level of control over Ki, I could probably pull it off without much effort."
"This is about control Cress, the first step to control is this form. I want you to take my word for it when I say that this may be the most important training you ever do."
"I've already strengthened my tail, developed a fighting style all my own, and look at me! I look like a tank!"
"That's odd, I didn't realise tanks came in size 5-year-old pipsqueak."
"Fuck off."
"Gladly. Once we're done here..."
Cress took a second to calm down.
The boy stood much taller than before, even at the mere age of 5, he looked to be closer to 12. With his dark hair having grown with him, he cut a dashing figure as a youth brimming with potential.
He didn't seem to require much food in the mysterious cave he had been training in, so his outings were far and few in-between his training.
As he walked out of the cave, he slowly felt his surroundings using Ki, skimming his planet, and vaguely making out a few higher power levels on the planet.
Building a sense with Ki required him to completely clear his mind, something which became sparklingly easy when all his own Ki was removed from the equation. At his first foray in sensing the outside world, he had been somewhat shaken from the amount of death which surrounded the planet. That alongside the fact that he couldn't sense the outside world from inside the cave itself, and the fact that his teacher was someone who could see into the future, had led him to leave his teammates to their own devices.
"Okay, I guess I'm in the clear. Time to get this over with."
He spoke to himself, slowly channelling his Ki into his tail. He had been concerned at how easily a tail could be pulled off or cut off even after it was trained, so he had made and extra effort to train his tail alongside his body.
As odd as it would seem, he had grown attached to this additional appendage.
"Oh wow, my whole body feels weird… it's starting to hurt… Fuck, this is gonna hurt a lot isn't this?"
The Ki gathered in his tail and his body begin to tighten. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that it felt like a Great Ape had been constricted all the way to his body and was now about to burst out.
"HOLY SHIT! IS IT GONNA HURT THIS MUCH EVERY TIME! FUCKIN HELL!"
*BOOM*
As his body grew, Cress fought the pain with everything he had; fighting mostly to remain conscious.
The surrounding was blown away as his Ki quickly accumulated and powered up with his entire body.
*ZiZiZiZi*
An odd noise filled the air as a gigantic Great Ape stood in the middle of a crater. His eyes blank and unmoving.
The night sky was dark, and the moon wasn't visible, this made it so that it was difficult to see the pitch-black fur of the Ape... a colour that exuded its very own pressure when visible.
"HA!"
*BANG*
Suddenly, as if taking a single breath after a lifetime of holding it, the towering Ape quickly sucked in air as he fell on his knees.
"Fuck! Fucking hell that was painful."
As he slowly regained his breath, he slowly began to check and warm up to his enlarged state.
"This is insane, I can't believe how strong this feels… but it's too chaotic. I need to control it. All of it."
Taking another breath, he slowly tightened his fist.
"I will. I'm much closer to where I need to be now. I'm going to take care of everyth-"
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
A flurry of attacks suddenly hit Cress from behind.
"I've never heard of Saiyan with a power level of 500,000 after transforming. What the fuck are you? And where is my son?"
*ROAR*
*SWISH*
Startled and enraged by the sudden attack, Cress replied by waving his massive hand behind his back before quickly turning around. The sudden rush of wind through the figure behind him several metres back.
Through his eyes, he angrily glared at the silhouette that had attacked him. And at the same time, he attempted to calm himself down so that he wouldn't lose control.
However, before the anger could overtake him, the Ape managed to stand completely still.
'I recognise that hair.'
"Bardo- FATHER?!"
END OF CHAPTER 8